HOTEL: Visitors need good accommodation

So hoteliers and Mr Austin are worried about the building of a new hotel on the Spanish City site (News Guardian, September 17).

People must have a short memory as I can recall the inclusion of a hotel in the initial proposals for the redevelopment of the site, but there again that was probably 15 years ago.

The correspondent bemoans the fact that business has decreased in recent years, with the resultant loss of accommodation, but has he asked why?

Would you have wanted to bring your family or friends to some of the places that were on offer and share your holiday experience with drunkenness and noise outside your bedroom window until the early hours of the morning, let alone the tatty appearance of the area in daylight when the nightlife’s bright lights had gone?

Whilst one must have one’s own views on whether Whitley Bay can be rejuvenated to make it attractive to visitors, the bottom line is they must have somewhere decent to stay. Asked a little while ago to recommend a place to stay in Whitley Bay, I was at a loss to think of anywhere suitable, and if asked now I would have to direct them to The Village or Premier Inn outside the town.

So Mr Austin and colleagues, look to the future and up your game now or you will be left behind.

My other hope is that this development will obscure the monstrosity which was once a ballroom from public view.